Over the years, the science and political communities have increasingly discussed research on Geoengineering. The concept of Geoengineering was first proposed in a report given to the Johnson administration in 1965 and it received a lot of positive and negative feedback. Today the effects of climate change are becoming more apparent and climate researchers have visited this topic time and time again. However, many researchers for and against Geoengineering believe that researching and deploying such a project would encourage us to turn a blind eye to our moral duties of reducing GHG emissions. Although there are many uncertainties that come with Geoengineering, research on this topic should at least be considered because it will allow us to buy time, help respond to a climate emergency and, in financial terms, it seems very practical. More over, if considered it is important to have a set of rules governing Geoengineering research.
Researching Geoengineering techniques would buy time to develop an environmentally safe renewable source of energy and sequester Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. Over the years, climate change has become more apparent resulting in massive heat waves, heavy rainfall, and glacier and sea ice melting. Undoubtedly, economic growth and the growing population have resulted in an increase in demand of energy. David Keith, a Harvard physicist and energy policy expert, stated, “the rate of growth of our emissions is accelerating and it 's accelerating
In the last 100 years, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased, causing the Earth to warm by an average of 0.6 degrees celsius, largely a result of burning fossil fuels for energy, transportation, and land use changes increased for food production. The basic science is straightforward and climate researchers have shown that gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and others can trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. Human activities such as industry, transport, energy generation and deforestation all produce these greenhouse gases. In the last 20 years, concern has grown that global warming is inevitable and now considered most probably caused by man-made increases in
The Global Warming theory has become increasingly popular over the past few years. Citizens of the world are being encouraged to be more environmentally conscious by others including politicians, celebrities, and world organizations. The problem with the theory lies in the fact that it has become more and more controversial as it gains publicity and attention. The basic concept behind this theory is that the earth was made with a balance of “greenhouse gasses”. These gasses are naturally occurring within the atmosphere and they essentially make the planet habitable by keeping it warm.
Global warming and climate change is one of the most pressing issues in the contemporary society given its continued impacts on human life and the world’s ecosystem. The considerable effects of this issue have raised huge concerns among policymakers, governments, and the public. As a result, various initiatives have been developed in attempts to lessen global warming or climate change, especially those related to reducing the emission of greenhouse gases to the Earth’s atmosphere. Governments across the globe including the United Kingdom government have adopted various policies that focus on dealing with the issue. There are various policies that help in dealing with the issue including lessening greenhouse gases emissions, adapting to the effects of climate change, and geo-engineering of the climate system. The attempts by the UK government to address this problem require an understanding of the increasing energy demands and its future impact and use of suitable renewable energy sources.
One of the solutions is geoengineering. It’s considerably cheap that even middle-income countries could utilize it single-handed. This shows that geoengineering could possibly help, but in order for it to work, all greenhouse gases must be removed from the earth’s atmosphere. Porter mentions how figuring out how to combat global warming on the cheap side is difficult due to the fact we continue on to exploit fossil fuels. The final thing Porter mentions is how the worst case for the deployment of geoengineering is the possible threat of a nuclear war. The thought of war is a terrifying subject, making the reader feel compelled to learn more about global warming, and thinking of possible ways to educate others. When arguments are convincing, it makes it hard for the readers to
Gary Stix calls to Americans to halt global warming. The world is changing and not for the better, he writes “The Debate on Global Warming is Over” (Stix 46). CO2 levels are higher than they have been in 650,000 years and are projected to only increase at an exponential rate. No one knows exactly when and what will happen, but all scientist can agree that it won’t be good. Making a difference in the fight against global warming will require a massive alteration in the entire world’s energy economy. Fossil Fuels account for 80% of the world’s energy and if a “carbon budget” is put into place then they will be ineffective (Stix 47). We need to begin to make a shift towards more renewable sources of energy, and adopt a system to help regulate the total amount of emissions. These programs will give us a head start on lessening the effects of global warming, but the
No matter what problem we have or how big that problem is, we are going to face questions that are both social and ethical in nature. Geoengineering is a proposal that the scientific community agrees might be necessary to stop the global warming crisis. However, many question if this is ethically acceptable. Humans have already manipulated the ecosystem, but intentionally and unintentionally, but are intentional acts on a large scale a good idea or not (Corner & Pidgeon, 2010). We have no idea what can occur when trying any of the methods, as no one has ever done anything like this in the past to reflect on or to give us suggestions for how we can be successful. Depending on where the manipulation occurs, it can cause different responses
Thomas talked about the importance of understanding the current problems and our resources are starting to become limited as the United States is becoming over populated with a high consuming generation of middle class people. Friedman recommends that green energy will be the next major advancement that will help slow down global warming and the use of our resources. The book explains the needs for the renewable energy technology that will ultimately make the United States the strongest
personally believe geoengineering could be a controversy which can result of being good and bad. Therefore we can combat global warming by controlling the amounts of substances by the chemical element of atomic being straight into the atmosphere, it could result of canceling out the glob warming effects. If not maybe at least the high tempters would decree. Furthermore by achieving and controlling the amounts of dioxide, we could transform aerosols which they would be in charge of reflecting all the light back to space. This process of global warming is being presented because of the causes of carbon dioxide being cause manly from humans. As humans we need to help ourselves by helping the earth. For example we could rid our bakes instead of
This article provided a unique way to catch the attention of a general audience that may not have a basic understanding of the science in global climate change. By diving into the significant changes in the climate all over the world; such as the ice caps melting, the author provides the reasoning behind why scientists are seriously considering geoengineering as a way to mitigate the effects of climate change. In order to provide a visualization of geoengineering to the general public, author Eduardo Porter compares it to a Sci-Fi movie called “Snowpiercer” that came out in 2013. This comparison gives an example of a dystopian world suddenly thrown into an ice age, where the only survivors are on a train perpetually circling the globe. While
What do we know about our energy sources and how our energy choices affect the environment? Many people still do not put much though into this topic or pay any attention to the amount of energy they use or where it comes from. For some it is just willful negligence, but for many others it may be due to a lack of knowledge on the subject. Perhaps it is a good idea to pay closer attention and educate ourselves so we can make informed decisions that may lead to less stress on our wallets and on our environment. In order to make a change, we should observe our currently used energy sources in everyday life, the impact of increasing energy uses, and observe all of the alternative options available to us.
That attempts to reverse the impacts of global warming by using geoengineering methods such as injecting reflective particles into the stratosphere could make matters worse. They feel that this geoengineering technique could cut rainfall in the tropics by 30%. They also think that the changes would happen so quickly that there would be little time to adapt.
Carbon Dioxide emissions contribute to the overall change in the Earth’s climate resulting in killer droughts, rising sea levels, and the disintegration of ice sheets – all which have devastating effects on the habitability of the planet. One such option to counter the effects of climate change is described in Eli Kintisch’s book Hack the Planet: Science’s Best Hope – or Worst Nightmare – for Averting Climate Catastrophe, which analyzes the controversial technique of geoengineering, or the act of deliberately manipulating an environmental process to reduce the causes or effects of greenhouse gases. Specifically, Kintisch interviews scientists and entrepreneurs from various fields to better understand the proposed geoengineering techniques
People are inflicting major damage to the Earth's environment, and if we don't do anything to stop the destruction soon, the results could be devastating. Most people know about global warming and think it may be a serious problem in the future. What most people don't understand is that global warming is happening now, and we are already feeling some of its destructive power. Because of the dangerous effects of global warming, alternative energy sources need to be aggressively pursued. Finding and utilizing alternative energy sources may be the only way to combat the increase of global warming.
NET aims at reducing CO2 concentration to stabilize temperature and SRM technologies are meant to influence global temperatures without altering atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. NETs can be considered a subset of mitigation . The AR5 states that some CDR techniques fall under the Geo engineering and there is no clear boundary between CDR and mitigation . This differentiation is important for regulation, governance and policy integration of NETs . Placing NETs and Geo engineering technologies under the same category could downplay the high risks of Geo engineering . ‘Risk to environment’ would mean regulation through precautionary principle leading to a possible disregard of feasible mitigation options offered by NETs .
Currently, geo-engineering has not been developed or tested to ensure its efficacy and safety. I know that this uncertainty can be lessened through predictions or computer-generated simulation. Despite these efforts, there will still be a percentage of uncertainty when it comes to the risk that future generations may face. Hence, developing and utilizing geo-engineering may have adverse effects in the future generations, which becomes an ethical issue. Subjecting the future generation to the unknown effects of carbon removal or aerosol dispersal in the atmosphere may cause more harm for we cannot 100% predict the future. Others may argue that geo-engineering may lead to the ensured survival of the future generations. They may live